5G now covers more than 50% of its network, says US Cellular
Thanks to a software update that improves 5G coordination between cell sites, US Cellular has been able to expand its next-generation network in several states.
The latest update delivers 5G services to an additional 1.4 million people, which represents a 5% increase in the company’s 5G coverage. According to the carrier, 5G now covers more than 50% of its footprint.
“These updates allow us to get more out of our investment and enhance our customers’ experience whether they are accessing our 5G network on their smartphone, tablet or for home internet,” said Robert Jakubek, vice president of engineering and network operations at US Cellular. “Our local network teams have been busy turning this technology on for customers from coast to coast, and we look forward to more customers taking advantage of our fast, high-quality network.”
To accelerate its rollout, US Cellular is tapping into X2 coordination, a feature that connects neighboring eNodeBs in a to assist handover, and thus, providing rapid coordination of radio resources. Doing so is allowing the carrier to more easily and quickly extend existing 5G service to neighboring sites.
US Cellular is also touting the use of “Automatic Neighbor Relations” (ANR), an automation capabilities that promise to accelerate deployment of services with greater autonomy, improved real time network updates and greater accuracy.
“This automation complements the work of US Cellular engineers and allows them to focus on other high value efforts that contribute to the quality and reliability of the network,” said the company, adding that it plans to implement ANR on future tower builds as its 5G rollout continues.
US Cellular is working with several indsutry partners on its 5G network. On its mmWave internet serivce, for example, it has tapped Qualcomm and Inseego Ericsson, while for C-band, it selected equipment from Nokia and Ericsson.
